Q. What is Tel'Mithrim?A. Tel'Mithrim (translates to the Grey Company
in the human tongue) is a role-playing guild comprised of Elves. That
does not mean that we really think we are elves, simply that we take
on the role of an elf and play with it in a fictional setting. Think
of it like a live, improvisational play, where you get to be one of
the actors, and there is no script.

We are not a fan-site for the
Lord of the Rings. If you decided you love Elves after seeing the
movies, this is not the site for you.

After you've gotten to know the members better (which usually takes
several weeks), you can mention you're interested in membership.

Be patient, continue to spend time with members, and hopefully
someone will volunteer to be your sponsor. From there, your sponsor
will tell you what happens. Most applications take at least two months,
some as long as a year. We only take dedicated members.

Q. How can I get a sponsor?A. You can get a sponsor by meeting us in Tel'Ruid.
You'll eventually get to know someone who will volunteer to be your sponsor
and take you through the application process. As a potential applicant,
you must gain a member's Trust, Respect, and Friendship before they'll
be your sponsor. Even if you feel that those three are met, be patient.
These things take time. For more information please check our Guild
Charter.

Q. What is a sponsor?A. A sponsor is a current member of the guild
who invites someone to join the guild. This member, the sponsor, will
then walk the applicant, or initiate, through the application process.
For more information please check our Guild
Charter.

Q. What is an Elf?A. Loosely speaking, an elf is a pointy eared,
long lived (or immortal, by some accounts), creature with a penchant for
nature, music, and the arts. We are not Santa's elves, we aren't Keebler's
elves. If you have seen Lord of the Rings, as most of you have, then you
should be able to picture us with some degree of accuracy. In a more doctrinal
sense, an Elf is a creature either created directly by Eru/Illuvater with
the Song of Creation, and the first born of all the races of Middle Earth
(Tolkien definition) or a race of beings created by Corellon Larethian.
To most Elves in our particular guild, Eru, Illuvater and Corellon Larethian
are the same being... which is a bit confusing, and doesn't make a lot
of sense, but our guild is comprised of Elves of all types, so it's easier
that way. Whether you call him Illuvater, Eru or Corellon Larethian, he
is basically our creator, and we are his children.

You can take a look in the Role-Playing
section of our Tel'Ruid
site for more info on the different subraces. Though some of it is incomplete,
it should get you started.

Q. Can I be an Elf?A. Sure, anyone can roleplay an Elf. Whether
or not you can become one in real life I haven't figured out yet. If you
want to play an Elf with us, then you have a number of options. You can
create a persona and play out with us on our board here, or you can take
the far more preferred course and join the online gaming world of Ultima
Online, and play with us in a real graphical setting. See the questions
above and below for more details.

Q. OK, so what's this about
a game?A. Most of our roleplaying goes on within a
MPORPG (Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game) called Ultima Online.
This is a computer game, just like any other, with the exception that
it uses the internet to connect to a "shard". In regular terms, this
is a game you play with thousands of other people at the same time.
You start the game, log onto a particular world, and then adventure
within it. Ultima Online worlds are very big, and involve a lot
more players then just us. We are just a small community within a very
large world.

To get Ultima Online, you must first purchase the game, which costs
around $20-$50, depending on the version. Also, you
must pay a monthly fee of $10. The monthly fee can
be paid either by automatic debit from a checking account or credit
card, or you can manually purchase
game time in 90-day blocks.

When you purchase the game, it comes with one free month of play so
you can try it out.

Q. How do I start playing
UO?A. Your first step is to buy the game. There
are several versions of the game, but you'll probably only find the newest
one or two. From newest to oldest, they are:

Ultima Online: Age of Shadows - This is an update that is
planned to be released in February 2003. It will include custom house
designs, new skills and a new landmass, among other additions. Go
here for more details.

Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn's Revenge - This is the current
version of Ultima Online, and the version you should purchase unless
you find Age of Shadows. It allows you to access new lands that the
Renaissance addition cannot get to (UO:3D can), as well as having
quite a bit new artwork for monsters and items. Go
here for more details.

Ultima Online: Third Dawn - This is a 3d version of Ultima
Online, and is very graphically demanding. If you don't have a new
computer with a nice video card, then you likely will be unable to
play UO:3D. UO:3D does give player the options of playing in 2d mode,
if they choose, but you must directly select it. Go
here for more details

Ultima Online: Renaissance - This is an old, 2d version of
Ultima Online, and is much easier on older computer systems. As long
as you have an internet connection, a decent system (Pentium2 300
should be fine) and roughly 64 megs then you can use this version
without serious issues. You will run much better with a more powerful
system, but you can get around with the basics. Go
here for more details

Ultima Online (original) - For your information, there was
an original release of the game that is now quite obsolete and no
longer sold.

After you purchase it, you need to install it onto your computer and
set up a game account. The installation program will walk you through
the entire process.

Q. I'm in UO! Where
are you?A. There are multiple worlds in UO, called shards.
Once you have created your account and logged in, it will take you to
a shard selection screen. Tel'Mithrim plays on the "Lake Superior" shard.
The name is misleading, the shard is actually located in Virginia, and
if you are in Europe or overseas it might be a bad shard for you to play
on. The farther away you are from the shard, the slower your game play
will be (Internet Latency... I am not explaining it).

Now that you are logged into Lake Superior (or LS, as we call it) it will
give you the opportunity to create your character. Choose the skills you
think would best suit what sort of persona you want to create and play.
Remember, this is fantasy! You can be whatever you want, from a blacksmith
and tailor to a swordswoman or mage! Don't worry if you choose skills
and change your mind, you can learn new skills (and forget old ones) after
you have started.

You'll begin play in a place called Haven. This is a special land just
for new players. Take your time and go through the interactive tutorials,
learning how to use the game interface and get around. There are a number
of simple quests for you to complete as you gain in skill, and each of
them will teach you all sorts of interesting new things! I suggest you
give them a try.

Once you have learned all you feel is necessary, find the moongate in
Haven (its in the Southern corner under the town, on a peninsula) and
go to Trammel Yew. Make sure not to go to Fellucca, as it is a dangerous
place where other players can kill your character. This can be fun if
you like the thrill of battle, but as a new player it is probably too
much for now. From Yew, follow this map to find Tel'Ruid,
our village.

Pretty much just head straight to the East or click
here for more details.

It is much easier to find us if you use the radar map... you can find
it on the menu bar on the top left of your screen. Try and match up the
vegetation to what's on the map till you stumble across the buildings
of Tel'Ruid. If you don't know what you are looking for, then take a look
at our village map here.

Once you are here, we can help you learn more about the lands and what
to do. I should note that you might be contacted by a special player called
a "Companion" (you will see companion over their names). These are special
player's who try and help new players. Ask them as many questions as you
like.

Q. Can I just play along on the message
board?A. You are welcome to read our board, but be
warned that almost all of the Role-Playing scenarios we engage in are
based on events that happen in game. Even the stories are usually (but
not always) retellings of events that have already happened. Additionally,
as it is our message board, we reserve the right to delete posts that
are off topic and made by non-members.

Silver Arrow Tavern
Message Board

Q. Why are some posters'
names in grey italics?A. Tel'Mithrim members are able to sign their
posts with a distinctive style: italic, grey text.
Any post signed in this way was made by a current member of Tel'Mithrim.
Any post signed in the default bold black, non-italic, was made by someone
who is not a member of Tel'Mithrim.

Q. Why didn't my post
show up?A. Your post most likely did not show up because
your browser did not reload the page, it simply pulled it out of cache.
Please reload the page and it should then appear. You should not try reposting
your message until you have confirmed that it didn't appear on the reloaded
message listing.

Q. It says I'm banned, but
I didn't do anything bad! What's wrong?A.
Your post most likely did not show up because your browser did not reload
the page, it simply pulled it out of cache. Please reload the page and
it should then appear. You should not try reposting your message until
you have confirmed that it didn't appear on the reloaded message listing.

To request that your ISP be un-banned, please send a message to Tel'Mithrim
Council requesting such and include the banned IP Number. If we believe
that you are innocent, and the removal of the ISP from our blacklist is
unlikely to allow an offender to resume posting, then we will remove the
entry from our blacklist.

To obtain your IP Number, you can
visit this page. Please note that you
must tell us your IP number or we won't be able to help you.

Elven Language and
Writing

Q. What's this about
an Elven Language?A. When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the setting for
the Lord of the Rings he crafted an entire world to go with it. Included
in that world were the grammatical structure and a rudimentary dictionary
for a number of Elven Tongues. Since we roleplay Elves online, we took
that dictionary, simplified the grammatical structure and expanded the
dictionary heavily. It is not cannon Elven as Tolkien wrote it,
simply our own adaptation. Which we like better. Thank you very much.

For more details and a downloadable dictionary, go to our language resource
page here.

Q. Could someone tutor
me in the Elven Language?A. None of our members are fluent enough in the
language to be of assistance in this case. We use what we know of the
language more for effect and to help set ourselves slightly apart from
other roleplayers in UO. However, for those who wish to learn Quenya (one
of Tolkien's Elvish languages), there is a tutorial link available in
the Language section.